On Wed, 20 Feb 2008 10:20:11 -0000, "Neil Arlidge" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
>Why don't you post your proposed "Limerick" Fest here? Oh. Right. Good plan. I mentioned this in Another Place, so apologies to anyone who has already seen it. This is a longer version. The background is that I live near the River Shannon, but a non-navigable bit between Killaloe (bottom of Lough Derg) and Limerick (the sea: head of the Shannon Estuary). This was always a very tricky navigation as most of the Shannon's fall is concentrated in this short stretch. In 1799 the navigation company finally managed to make a link, which used a shrot canal stretch constructed through a bog, a mile of river, a canal with six locks, another short stretch of river and then another canal at Killaloe itself. The thing closed shortly after it opened, but was further improved and reopened in 1814. And that was the waterway to Limerick for over 100 years. Then in the 1920s the hydroelectric power station at Ardnacrusha was opened, with a weir at Parteen Villa diverting most of the Shannon's flow down a large headrace canal and with a 100' drop in the lock at the power station. The old navigation was abandoned, save that the canal harbour at the Limerick end continued in use, although canal-boats now approached it from the opposite end, via the power-station tailrace and the river rather than down the old canal. But there's a lot of the old infrastructure still visible. Part of the Killaloe canal is used for parking boats in (or outside of, as Neil has done) and the gauging station carriages and stuff are still there, though not used. At the village of O'Briensbridge the old winch is still there: it was used to haul boats through the bridge on this fast-flowing river section. An anchor that may be part of the old buoy system has recently been found. And the locals have made circular walks along the old towing-path, where there are interesting little bridges. The locks are all still there, without their gates, and most can be accessed. In Limerick itself, the lower section of canal has been tidied up and a walkway and cycleway have been built along it. Mention restoration of the navigation and people laugh. So I'm trying to work with the community association in O'Briensbridge to argue that the navigation should be restored from Killaloe down to O'Briensbridge and Castleconnell (the village where I live). That would need a bypass lock at the Parteen Villa Weir, but not a lot else: the old quays are still there and the old weir at Castleconnell is still holding up the level; a little dredging would be needed, and modern pontoons or whatever, but it would be relatively easy to restore navigation as far as O'Briensbridge. If we get reasonable numbers of boats coming that far, we could at that stage argue that the restoration of the long canal section should be investigated, but until then we have no hope. Anyway, we're thinking of a number of things that might advance our campaign, and one possibility is to hold a weekend "waterways festival", although without large boats as they can't get there (unless craned in) (and the slipway for small boats isn't all that good). The outline idea for the festival is to get people to come on Friday and stay until Sunday. We would have a couple of short papers on each day, about the old navigation and related matters, and then have walks or coach trips to waterways attractions. Evenings to be devoted to food, drink and music. For instance, we could walk down the river to the old canal on one day, and maybe visit Ardnacrusha (the modern navigation) on the other day. If it happened again the following year, we could do a different walk from O'Briensbridge plus a trip to the old navigation at either Limerick or Killaloe: there is enough interesting stuff around for several years' worth of visits. If this comes off, I'd see it as a fairly small-scale event: perhaps a hundred people all told, including local folk, waterways and tourism honchos, Irish waterways enthusiasts and, if possible, a contingent of British enthusiasts too, which would be a real boost for the village. There are cheap flights to Shannon Airport (alas, no longer from Heathrow, but many others); accommodation would be B&B (there are hotels a few miles away but then taxis would be needed after the pub closes); use the village hall for discussions; maybe get an exhibition of old photos (there are quite a few). We might get a bit of sponsorship, but it would be mainly voluntary/community organised rather than commercial, so a fairly low fee. Timing would be an issue: avoid conflicting with the main boating season, but also with the local fishing season, to ensure that accommodation would be available. I don't know the answer to that yet. The hope is that a festival would get publicity and build local and national support for the waterway and for our campaign. But as you can see, it is all a bit up in the air at the moment: not much more than an idea. What I would like to establish is whether the idea of having "international attenders" (even in small numbers) is realistic, because if it is then the potential benefits to the waterway and to the campaign are larger, and thus it becomes easier to convince people that we should go ahead and organise it. bjg
